Disney
"Beauty and the Beast."
The Henagar Drive-In Theatre in Henagar, Alabama, came to the decision after "Beauty and the Beast" director Bill Condon revealed that Josh Gad's character LeFou, the comical sidekick to antagonist Gaston (Luke Evans), will be Disney's first-ever openly LGBTQ character.
Here's a portion of what was written on the Henagar Drive-In Facebook page:
"For those that do not know 'Beauty and the Beast' is 'premiering' their first homosexual character. The producer also says at the end of the movie 'there will be a surprise for same-sex couples.' If we can not take our 11 year old grand daughter and 8 year old grandson to see a movie we have no business watching it. If I can't sit through a movie with God or Jesus sitting by me then we have no business showing it. I know there will be some that do not agree with this decision. That's fine. We are first and foremost Christians. We will not compromise on what the Bible teaches."
Condon explained the reason behind LeFou being gay in the live-action "Beauty and the Beast" to Attitude: "LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston," Condon said. "He's confused about what he wants. It's somebody who's just realizing that he has these feelings. And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that's what has its payoff at the end, which I don't want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie."
At the end of the Henagar Drive-In Facebook post, the theater states: "We will continue to show family oriented films so you can feel free to come watch wholesome movies without worrying about sex, nudity, homosexuality and foul language."
Below is the complete Facebook post:
"Beauty and the Beast" opens in theaters March 17.